I actually don't like cats
by Kuroneko99
Summary: Tsukiyomi Ikuto: The Black Cat of Misfortune, the Perverted Cat, the Wandering Cat, the Alley Cat. He's always been made out to be the mischievous feline, but in actuality, he doesn't like cats. What happens when he finds a stray cat late one night?
1. Chapter 1: I don't like cats

**So I decided to try my hand at writing a short shugo chara story. It's gonna be a short one about Ikuto and Yoru; nothing too fancy. Disclaimer: I don't own shugo chara. Please read, review, and enjoy.**

* * *

><p><strong>I don't like cats<strong>

I actually don't like cats. Never really have, and never really will. I don't hate them; I just acknowledge their existence and move on. I don't know why everyone thinks that I like cats. Actually, I think the reason they think that is because they say I act like a cat.

I hate it when everyone makes all those cat references. Tadase calls me the black cat of misfortune, Amu says I'm a perverted cat, Tsukasa thinks I'm a lost cat, and there's several more. Amu also makes fun of me because of the way I act apparently; she's always making cat jokes about me. It drives me insane! I'm not a cat; how many times must I say it?

Ok, I do like to take naps a lot and wander wherever I please and occasionally grow really curious, but that doesn't make me a cat person. The napping is because I'm always working and never seem to get a break so I'm always tired. As for the wandering, I just don't like staying in one place. Also I'm trying to hide from my "father." There's also my liking for taiyaki and eating it by the tail.

But I think the main reason is because of the cat ears and tail that always appear out of nowhere. This is most likely because of my shugo chara. Yoru looks like a cat; I'm not going to lie. He has ears, a tail, paws for hands, and says nya a lot. Yeah I know, a shugo chara is supposed to reflect a person's would be self, but that doesn't mean that I want to be a cat.

Let me explain. While I was traveling through Europe with Tsukasa, I kept seeing all these stray cats. They would just roam around, doing whatever they wanted. At that particular time in my life, I thought it'd be real nice to just wander around, free to do whatever I wanted.

Then as you probably guessed, my longing to be free created Yoru. Once he was born, he kept going on and on about wanting to be a free alley cat. That's not what I had intended; I just wanted to be free. Maybe I should have looked at a bird and things might have turned out differently.

What's worse is that Tsukasa began making all these cat references when I'm around. He tickles my ears, which are sensitive by the way, with string or some random weed he finds and my cat ears pop out unconsciously. As soon as the ears and tail come out, I feel all hyper begin playing with anything that moves. It's not my fault! I don't know what comes over me to make me want to act like that. I think Tsukasa does it on purpose just to make me mad.

Bottom line is I'm not a cat. I don't want to be one and no matter what personality my shugo chara has, I will not be like a cat. Ever. All this talking has made me tired. I think I'm gonna go take a nap...

I have no idea how long I've been asleep. Oh well...I really don't care because it was a good nap. It looks like it's about 7 or something Judging by the sinking sun. well, another day that I spent sleeping and not doing what the old man wants. I'd say that I accomplished a lot today.

"Hey, Ikuto! I'm bored-nya!" Here we go again. I forgot to mention that Yoru is very hyperactive. I certainly don't want to be like that.

"That's nice; what do you want me to do about it?" I asked, letting out a yawn as I picked myself up off the bench I was sleeping on.

"Ikuto!" He wined, doing circles in the air. "I wanna do something-nya! Let's do something-nya! Let's play, play, play!" On a reflex, I flicked him on the forehead watched him spin through the air. "Ow! Ikuto, that hurt-nya!" He complained as he held his forehead where I had left a red mark.

"You're too loud." I replied, stretching out my arms. I was still tired even though I had been sleeping for hours. Now what? I was in no hurry to go home, but it's a bit cold and I don't like the cold.

"You're so mean-nya!" Yoru cried.

This is a normal thing, just to let you know. He may be part of my heart, but he is just so annoying sometimes. Yoru is spontaneous and smug, I'll say that. Yet no matter how many times we have this love-hate exchange, he always remains at my side. Probably because he has no other choice to; he is my shugo chara after all.

"So what are we gonna do now-nya?" He asked as I stared up at the sky. Blue was seeping into the orange-streaked sky. The smog made everything look fake and dirty looking. Again, I couldn't see the stars through the smog of the city; a reason that I dislike living in the city. The only place where I can gaze at the stars is at the planetarium, but I'm not really in the mood for Tsukasa's cat references.

"Same thing we seem to do every night, Yoru." I said.

"And what would that be again-nya?" Yoru cocked his head to the side curiously and

ran his paw over his ear.

"Wander around aimlessly in search of something interesting…" I gave this response half-heartedly. Suddenly, my stomach growled. Maybe I should go get something to eat. "Or maybe we should find something to eat…"

"Food-nya!" I watched him fly through the air in a fit of happiness. Well that made Yoru happy. I guess we're gonna go look for some food then.

"Alright then, what should we get?" I picked up my violin case and stretched out my legs.

"Taiyaki-nya!" Figures. If it's not fish or catnip, Yoru's most favorite thing is taiyaki.

"Sure-"

"Meow!"

I froze in mid step, letting the sudden sound sink in. at first I thought it was just an echo from some memory in the past. I mean, come on, I hear meows all the time. But this one was closer, much closer; almost as if it was right behind me. Slowly, as if I was a robot, I turned towards the sound.

"Meow!" My eyes snapped downwards as the sound came from under the bench. I was sure now that the sound was real and that I wasn't having some hunger-induced hallucination. I crouched down and peered under the bench through the dark. A pair of golden eyes appeared out of the darkness. Upon further inspection, I saw that the eyes were attached to a furry face that was as black as soot.

"Meow!" A soft pink mouth with milk white teeth flashed under the glowing orbs.

"Oh no…" I muttered rolling my eyes.

* * *

><p><strong>So? Any thoughts? Was it good? Was it horrible? Was it something that should be burned at the stake? Please, someone tell me!<strong>


	2. Chapter 2: Cat's out of the bag

**Well, I managed to complete chapter two. Since i'm horrible with author's notes, i'll leave it at that. Disclaimer, there's no way that i could own Shugo Chara since i am not Peach-Pit. Please read, review, and enjoy.**

* * *

><p><strong>Cat's out of the bag<strong>

No, not in a million years. I'm not doing it. No matter how much those endearing eyes gaze up at me, I'm not caving. Even as I speak, Yoru is staring at me with puppy dog eyes. He's a cat; why does he have puppy dog eyes?

"Ikuto…" he begins.

"No, not gonna happen." I said quickly and stood back up.

"But Ikuto, he's been abandoned-nya!"

"There's probably a reason for that." I know it sounded cold, but there's no way that I'm letting Yoru and this cat get to me. I said it before, I don't like cats and I'm certainly not taking one home.

"You're so mean-nya!" Yoru cried. "How could you leave him here-nya?"

"Simple, I'm going to walk away."

"Meow…" Why wasn't I leaving? Why was I just standing there? It's easy just to leave; all I had to do was put one foot in front of the other and just keep walking out of the park. Yet something kept me standing there. What was it? Whatever it was, it was starting to annoy me.

"But Ikuto, this guy doesn't have a family or a home-nya..." Yoru flew down to the kitten and stared into its eyes. "He says that he used to live in a warm house with his mother and siblings. Then he was taken by the man and dropped off here...He says he's been here for one night without food and water. He wants to know why no one's come to get him...Isn't mother worried about him?"

Ok, that's kinda sad, but I can't just pick up every stray with a heartfelt story. With Yoru and his ability to talk to cats, I should be used to all these stray cat stories, so why should this one matter? Maybe I would get all teary eyed and automatically take the cat home if I was still in grade school, but I'm in high school now and I can't just do things just on a whim.

"Why should I care?" I knew I sounded cold and heartless, but I'm not usually a openhearted person.

"Why are you so cruel-nya?" Great, now I feel like the bad guy.

"Yoru, you know we can't bring a cat home." I told him. It was the truth. If the old man found out that I brought a pet home, he'd make my life even more miserable.

"We can keep him in your room-nya!" Yoru suggested.

"Yeah, but what about when I go to school? If I just leave him there, then someone's bound to find him. Then what do you think will happen?" I watched as his tail and ears drooped. A tiny part of me felt bad, but I ignored it.

"I know-nya…but still we should…" He was struggling to think of a way that he could convince me to take the cat home. Yoru's yellow eyes kept darting from the ground back to the kitten.

"Come on, Yoru. I'm getting hungry and I don't want to stay out here all night." Now I was really going to leave. I wasn't going to look back. The cat jumped out of the box and followed behind me. I stopped when I felt it rubbing against my legs, its tail wrapping around. This was a classic move to get people to see how cute and cuddly kittens were.

"Meow!"

I looked down; big mistake. I knew I was trapped when I saw its tiny face staring back up at me through the street lights. "Dang it!" I groaned.

Dang it! Dang it! Why? Man…now what do I do? I crouched down and stroked the cat. Its fur was silky soft even for having been abandoned. Yoru's right: it'd be too cruel to leave him out here, knowing that he might die of starvation. But what am I supposed to do? I can't take him home…Or can I? Maybe just for one night until I can figure out what I'm going to do with him.

"Fine," I sighed, scooping up the small ball of fur, "you win; I'm taking you home. For one night only though…"

"Really-nya?" Yoru exclaimed.

"Yeah, don't ruin it." I held the kitten to my chest. He burrowed into my jacket in an attempt to get warm. It felt weird having something climbing inside my jacket. "What are you doing?" I asked. Why did I do that? It's not like the cat's gonna respond. He poked his head back out of the opening in my jacket, purring loudly. It vibrated against my chest.

"He says you're very warm-nya." Yoru told me.

"Ok…that's nice…" I wasn't quite sure what to say. ok, so now what? I don't know the first thing about taking care of a cat. "So what do we do now, Yoru?"

"He probably needs food and water-nya."

"That means that you don't know, do you?"

"Yes I do-nya!" he protested. No he didn't. I guess I can always go check out a book on how to take care of a cat. Or I could go bother a certain someone and see if they know. Since I'm growing bored, I think I'll choose the second option.

"Come on, Yoru." I said and began walking out of the park.

"Where are we going-nya?"

"For a late night stroll to visit someone."

It only took a few minutes of winding my way through the back alleys and narrow streets that ran through the city before I found the route I was looking for. I hopped from roof to roof under the cover of night. If anyone saw me, they might think that I was a burglar or something. Rest assured this is a normal thing.

I stopped at one of the houses and waited, glancing up at the sky. I heard a door below slide open and someone step out onto the back deck. The cat had burrowed deeper into my jacket and looked like a small lump under my jacket. It was kinda poofy so it didn't stand out too much.

"Ah, milk after a shower feels so nice!" I heard the familiar voice and waited for the right moment to make my appearance.

"You sound like an old man when you say that."

"She's the heroine! She can say that sort of stuff!"

This feels an awful lot like déjà vu. Wait for it, wait for it…Ok, time to make my entrance. "Are you still hoping to grow bigger breast by drinking milk?" I poked my head down from the room just in time to see the pink haired girl spit out her milk.

"I-Ikuto?" She cried, covering her chest as if my comment had physically touched her or something. Elementary students are so funny. I jumped down and sat on the railing, just watching her as her face turned bright pink, almost as pink as her hair.

"Long time no see, Amu." I replied, the wind ruffling my cobalt blue hair. Hovering beside Amu were her three shugo charas. Ah, gone are the days where I used to harass her because I thought she had the Embryo. Now I just harass her for fun. Seriously, I may seem like a jerk but her reactions are just too funny!

"Yo!" Yoru said to the girls.

"Yoru!" Miki and the others exclaimed.

"Wh-What do you want, you perverted cat?" She hissed angrily. There she goes again, another cat comment. I guess I kinda deserved that one, but it's still annoying.

"Even after I came all this way just to see you and ask your advice, you react so coldly. Well if you're going to have that attitude then I'll just leave." I said heavily, putting on a put out face as I turned to leave.

"Wait, you came here to ask me for advice?" I could detect a hint of smugness entering her voice. "Hold on, let my savor this moment." She was laughing now. "_You _actually need _my _help? This is hilarious!"

"Amu, it's not nice to laugh-desu!" Su told her.

Yeah, Amu, it's not nice to laugh. I find it hilarious that little kids think they're all that. maybe I should have just skipped coming here and gone to the pet store instead. Then again, even if I don't get any advice, I can mess with her.

"Alright, so what do you want?" Amu put her hands on her hips and looked at me carefully.

"Well, I wanted to ask you, in your infinite knowledge, how you'd take care of a cat." I told her. Her eye twitched irritably as she discovered my hint of sarcasm.

"Like what do you mean?"

"I mean, if you were to take in a cat, how would you take care of it." Did she not know?

"You mean a perverted cat cosplayer like you doesn't know how to take care of a little cat?" The corners of her mouth turned upwards into a smile before she burst out laughing. "Really? You don't know? You're so pathetic, Ikuto!"

This girl…! Forget it, I think I'm gonna go hit the pet store. I'm not going to put up with this girl and her stupid comments. "What was I thinking, asking a little kid such a question. I guess I'll try somewhere else." I swung my leg over the railing and that shut her up.

"I'm not a little kid!" She huffed, crossing her arms across her chest. "Well…I've never actually owned a cat, so I can only tell you a little bit. You need to give them water if they're past a certain age. If it's a kitten it needs cat milk and soft cat food. You need to make sure that they have at least mouse to play with or something like string. I guess they might need to be brushed periodically and would need a litter box or some sort…Why do you ask?"

"Well…." Right on cue, the kitten poked its head out. I turned to look at something in the distance as Amu's eyes lit up.

"Aw! A kitten! It's so cute!" she gushed. Do all girls like cute things? I'll never understand women…I wonder if I can get her to take the cat instead.

"A kitty!" Ran smiled as the other two shugo charas flew over to the cat.

"Can I pet him?" Amu asked.

"Sure…" I lifted him out of my jacket and her fingers stroked his ears. For a brief instant I was jealous of the cat for getting so much attention. How sad am I? Jealous of a cat…

"Where'd you get him?"

"The park."

"Was he abandoned?"

"Yup."

"Does he have a name?" Ok, hold on with the questions. I just got the cat and you expect me to already have a name for it? I'm not even sure if I'm going to keep it. so why would I give a name to something I'm not going to keep? Giving names to things means that you're creating an attachment to them. I don't want to get attached to this cat.

"No…"

"Why not?" Why? Because I'm uncreative when I come to names, I have no intention of keeping this cat, I just found him, and so on and so forth.

"I couldn't think of one." Yup, that was the excuse I came up with.

"How about Kuro?" Amu suggested, looking at the cat's black fur.

"Kuro? Why?"

"Because he has black fur." Somehow I didn't see that coming. Fine, whatever, it doesn't matter to me. This cat can be named whatever.

"Sounds good I guess…" I looked at the cat as he looked back at me, meowing loudly. His licked my hand with his pink tongue. It was rough and wet, much different than a dog's.

"So what are you going to do with him?"

"I'm not really sure…I just found him and I couldn't just leave him there…" I'm such a liar; I was the one who wanted to leave him under the bench. But what she doesn't know won't hurt her.

"Aw, who knew that you were so caring." Amu commented sarcastically. There she goes again, acting all "Cool and Spicy".

"Who knew that you were full of such knowledge and not just pink hair and attitude." I knew I hit a nerve when color returned to her cheeks.

"You know what, you can just leave!" She shouted.

"Amu, what's going on? Was that a cat I heard?" Her mom's voice made her freeze. That was my cue that it was time to leave.

"Nothing, mom!" she called back.

"Well thanks for the advice." I said and got back onto the railing.

"Uh…well…you're welcome…" she replied, watching as I turned to leave. "Uh, Ikuto…" I stopped and looked back over at her.

"Yes?"

"Good luck…" Aw, she was blushing. She knows she likes me, I'm sure of that. Little kids are so transparent.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." I managed a small smile and jumped down into the night. The light from her bedroom made my shadow grow long as I walked down the quiet street.

"Meow!" Kuro meowed as I put him back into my jacket.

"So, it looks like I'm taking you home tonight…" I said to him as he began to purr again. His warm body added to the warmth of the jacket, helping to keep the cold at bay. I didn't realize it at first, but this small cat was slowly making his way into my heart that I thought had been long since closed off.


	3. Chapter 3: New Arrival

Well, it's been awhile everyone. Sorry for not updating in forever. I've been busy with school, but now school is out and i have more time. So, i finally got around to writing, setting all other writing projects aside, and wrote the third chapter. Yay. So, as usual, please read, review, and enjoy.

* * *

><p><strong>New Arrival<strong>

I was never into ninjas much, even though all through junior high the other kids used to call me a ninja because I moved so stealthily. I think that's also where the cat comments came from. I never intended to walk quietly, I thought it was normal. I guess I'm thankful for the element of silence in my house.

"Looks like everyone's asleep-nya." Yoru commented. There were no lights on in the house, a sign that my mother was asleep. I didn't have to worry about my "father" being home; he is never him and personally I prefer to see less of him as I can.

To avoid waking my mother, I decided to enter through the window like any sneaky teenager would. holding tightly to the plastic bag full of cat essentials, I prepared to jump.

"Dun na dun na-nya." As I kept up towards my window, Yoru began singing the Mission Impossible theme song, or at least he was trying.

"What are you doing?" I asked, turning to him rwith a blank stare.

"I'm singing-nya. I thought it made the mood more dramatic." he replied.

"It's not helping; in fact it's making it worse. Just be quiet." I told him as I pulled the kitten closer. My window was right above me; only a little further.

"Ok-nya..." His tail drooped a bit as he followed after me. I jumped quickly up to the window, staring at my reflection in the dark window. I felt the kitten stir inside my jacket and I pushed the latch open gently. Quietly, I slid into my room and closed the window.

I let out a heavy sigh as I sat down on my bed. "Alright, we're home..." I unzipped my jacket and pulled Kuro out. He let out a meow that looked more like a yawn as he stood in the middle of my room.

The cat paced around a bit, seeming rather confused by the sudden new environment. Kuro sniffed around, following some sort of scent under my bed. I watched him appear on the other side, bits of dust hanging on his whiskers.

I gave a faint smile as I watched Kuro investigate the room. There wasn't much in my room to get into so I didn't have to worry about him getting into too much trouble.

The less things this cat got into the better. I didn't want to risk Kuro knocking something over. If my mother or father found out, who knows what might happen.

A sudden wave of exhaustion swept over me. That nap I took earlier didn't help curb my fatigue. Without changing, I leaned back on the pillows, staring up at the ceiling before closing my eyes.

"You tired-nya?" Yoru asked, circling my head.

"What do you think?" I shot back turning over on my side.

"But I'm bored-nya!" he complained loudly.

"Go play with Kuro, but keep it quiet." I muttered, flicking him in the forehead. He spun through the air like a leaf blow in the wind. kuro watched him intently as Yoru steadied himself.

"You're so mean-nya?" The kitten jumped up and grabbed Yoru by the tail between his tiny white teeth. Yoru gave cry as he was pulled down. "Ikuto! Help me-nya!" he cried as Kuro crushed him under his paws.

"Aw, he's playing with you. Now you two can bond." I closed my eyes as Kuro pulled on Yoru's ear playfully.

"Ikuto! Don't fall asleep! Save me-nya!" I just closed my eyes and slipped off into sleep, ignoring my shugo chara's cries.

* * *

><p>I was awakened from my sleep by something biting my hand. At first I didn't notice anything until it became a sharp pain. I opened my eyes to see Kuro's teeth in my hand.<p>

I sat up quickly and shook him off. He rolled across the bed and stood up on unsteady paws. There was a small red bite mark on the side of my hand. Great, this is not how I wanted to be woken up.

"Ikuto, you're awake-nya!" Yoru suddenly appeared, flying around excitedly.

"Did you tell him to do this?" I asked groggily. Being awakened suddenly like this was on my list of things I disliked.

"He's hungry-nya. He wants you to feed him."

I stretched out my stiff arms, blinking against the sunlight as it streamed in. I was not a morning person. It was taking me awhile to remember what happened yesterday. The cat I brought home decided he was hungry so he bit me to wake me up. Not the best way to wake up.

I opened my eyes to see Kuro pad up to me, his eyes shining brightly in eagerness. "You're a demanding little thing..." I muttered as he climbed onto my knees. I winced in pain as his claws dug into my skin. They were tiny, but sharp as needles.

"Alright, alright!" I hissed, unhinging his claws from my skin. "I'll feed you." I set the kitten down on the floor as I got up. Slowly I searched for the bag from last night I left on my desk my hand accidentally nudged the key on my violin case. I didn't know how much too feed him so I just poured out the food into a dish next to some water. Kuro dove for the food like a ravenous beast. Crumbs fell onto the floor and I sighed. Great, this cat eats like a ravenous shark.

"Yoru, watch him." I said grabbing a fresh set of clothes.

"Why? Where are you going-nya?"

"To take a shower. Make sure he doesn't cause any trouble." I replied and left silently for the bathroom down the hall. I shut the door behind me and walked down the silent hallway. I couldn't hear any movement downstairs; mom wasn't up yet and dad hadn't come home.

The shower helped relax me, the warm water helped to wake me up. This week had been a long one and the orders from Easter weren't letting up. It seemed that they were trying to drive me into the ground. Now I had to balance the workload from Easter and school with taking care of this kitten. Man, everything keeps getting more and more complicated. I just wish that it would end so that I could sleep.

Despite all this, today was Saturday so I had a chance to just laze around. Even if the old man gives me orders, there's no way I'm going to listen. It's a pain to other people's dirty work…But if I don't…Utau and mother will be-

Suddenly, a loud crash made me look up from my thoughts. I turned the water off quickly, listening as water dripped in the shower. All that followed was silence. I guess I must be hearing things. For a moment I thought I heard tr-Then it came a again, louder and clearer.

Great, now what was going on? I sweat if it's Yoru and that cat I'm gonna get mad. Quickly I dried off and got dressed before storming back to my room.

"What's going on?" I hissed, swinging the door open quickly. I hope mother didn't hear it or things would get complicated.

"N-Nothing-nya!" Yoru stammered from underneath Kuro's huge paws. The kitten seemed to have a death grip on my shugo chara. I surveyed the room, searching for signs of what might have caused the crashing sound. It didn't take me long to figure out what had happened. My desk chair had been knocked over, I guessed from where Kuro must have chased Yoru. From there, the bag was knocked on the floor and thankfully the food hadn't spilled out. after terrorizing my desk, Kuro must have chases Yoru across my bed, got caught in the sheets, and then fallen off onto the floor where he was now.

"You two…" I began, untangling Kuro from the sheets.

"H-He started it-nya!"

"You can fly, Yoru. You have no excuse." I told him flatly as I picked the kitten up. He squirmed in my hands grabbing at the sheets as they moved. Yoru's face stiffened as he hovered in the air, shocked into silence. "You're just lucky my mom didn't hear it and come running." With the cat tucked under my arm, I went around fixing everything this little black tornado messed up.

"Ikuto? What was that sound? Are you alright? I'm coming in." That familiar knock and the voice of my mother on the other end made me freeze. She had heard the noise and come to investigate. Thinking fast, I reach for my violin and grabbed my coat and shoes with Kuro still under my arm. Unlocking my window with one swift movement, I jumped out and swung myself onto the roof. From inside my room, I heard the door swing open and my mother's soft footsteps enter. I waited quietly like I always did when I hid on the roof to avoid her. Kuro had other ideas, he bit down on my hand, hard. I took a sharp intake of breath, but remained silent, cursing the cat in my head. He was becoming more trouble than I had expected.

"Again?" she sighed wearily and shuffled out. Only when I heard the door close did I let out a quiet "ow" as I pried Kuro from my hand.

"Why you-!" I seethed, glaring at him. He just meowed happily as if nothing was wrong. Why did I bother picking up this thing again? I don't like cats and taking in a cat will give people the wrong impression. "This is your fault, Yoru." I told him icily, my eyes sliding over to him. His face grew pale; I was not amused.

"But we couldn't just leave him there-nya!" he protested.

"We could of and he would have been someone else's problem." I set Kuro down in my lap as I put on my coat and shoes, making sure that he didn't suddenly tumble off. I might not like cats, but I'd still feel bad if he suddenly fell off the roof.

"Hey, hey, Ikuto, I'm hungry-nya! Let's get some food!"

I stared at him silently for a moment and sighed. "Fine…I don't think we'll end up coming back home today until late anyways…"

"Yay, yay! Some tasty fish-nya!" Yoru sang as I lightly jumped down from the roof and started walking down the street.

"It's whatever I can afford." I tried to tell him, but he was beyond listening. With my violin case slung over my shoulder, I held Kuro in my arms, unsure whether to set him down on the ground or hold him. I figured he'd cause less trouble in my arms.

* * *

><p>The day dragged on slowly, filled with me lying on the embankment of the river while Yoru and Kuro played with the grass. I couldn't nap because the kitten had a habit of tumbling down the hill and ending up dangerously close to the flowing water.<p>

"You're just too much trouble, cat." I told him for the tenth time in the last hour. He didn't seem to care and continued to stalk Yoru's tail. I stared up at the clouds in the sky, the dead grass tickling my face as the cold wind kicked up. Man I hate the cold, but this was the warmest place I could find besides holing myself up in a building. Beside me lay my violin case. Maybe I'll feel like playing later…

Gradually, my eyes began to close as warm rays of sunlight hit my face. With my eyes closed, I didn't see Kuro walk over to the violin case and tug hard on something.

When I awoke an hour later, Kuro and the key on my violin case were gone.


	4. Chapter 4: Operation Retreival

So this story has been on my list of stories to update before they are forgotten so I decided to do a quick chapter to show that i hadn't forgotten about it. It's short and there should be more next time once i get more free time and stop coming up with new story ideas. As usual, i don't own Shugo Chara. So please read, review, and enjoy. **  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4: Operation Retrieval<strong>

Great, just great. I go to sleep for…actually, I don't know how long I was asleep but that doesn't matter! I go to sleep for a bit and that stupid kitten runs off with my key. To top it all off, Yoru is gone as well. I'm going to kill that thing when I find him. Once I find the kitten I might end up just leaving him somewhere so he can be someone else's problem. Now, instead of relaxing, I have to go and search for a kitten with my key and my shugo chara who I have a feeling is with that trouble-making ball of fur.

This is another reason why I don't like cats. You leave them alone to take a nap for one second and then they vanish without a trace, causing trouble. If I had left Kuro at home, he would have probably have caused even more trouble. I just can't win either way; the cat is trouble.

There's no point in complaining now; I need to go and find the key. I stand to my feet, shaking off my legs that had fallen asleep. The feeling slowly returned to them, leaving them feeling tingly. Grabbing my violin case, I climbed up the hill and set off down the road. The sun was beginning to creep downwards in the sky. It had been who knows how many hours since Kuro had scampered off.

Finding him in this city would be no easy matter. He could be anywhere by now and to top it off I don't have Yoru here to help me find him. I bet that he followed the cat, He's not helping right now, I know that. If he had followed the cat to try and get back the key he would have brought it back by now, unless the kitten is more trouble than he expected.

Where to start? Where to start? I guess I should try looking in bushes and up in trees. That's where cats are most likely to hide, right? I guess I should try calling out his name and shaking something that sounds like food. Maybe he'll come home when he gets hungry and I can just go home and wait for Yoru to bring him back…No wait, the kitten doesn't know where my house is and he'll just get help helplessly lost. That is unless Yoru is with him. I could just wait instead of running around wasting my time, but knowing how unreliable Yoru can be sometimes I don't think I should just wait around.

Why am I even bothering to do this if I don't care for the cat anyway? I guess just leaving him out there when he's just a kitten doesn't sit well with me. I guess I might care a bit…Maybe. I'm mean, I'm not heartless enough to just leave the cat on the streets after I went through all the trouble of brining it home and buying it food. I'm not going to let him get hit by a car, or lost in the city, or caught out in the rain, or fall into a river—

The sound of my phone going off stopped my rambling and for that I was thankful. Until I looked at the caller ID. Now I wished I had kept on rambling about the stupid cat. It would be better than this.

On the screen the name said "The Overlord of Evil", that would be my boss. My "father." Great, as if my day couldn't get any better. I debate whether it would be a good idea to just throw my phone into the river and pretend I lost it or just let it ring until it shuts up. But I do none of these, knowing that the outcome will not be good for me.

Even though I was shouting at myself not to answer the phone, I flip it open and hold it

up to my ear, listening to the frustrated breathing on the other side.

"Yes?" I asked in a hollow tone, not needing to question who the caller was or what he wanted.

"What took you so long?" my father snapped, irritated. A bad sign, but then again he was always frustrated and angry. "What were you doing? Lazing about?"

"I was busy," I replied. Not a complete lie.

"I highly doubt that. You probably were slacking off instead of searching for the Embryo like you've been told to do. I will not stand for this."

In situations like this I find it best to remain silent and just let the old man yell at me. If I let every sarcastic comment that I was holding on my tongue go, things would turn our to be worse for me and my family in the end. Every once in a while I was able to say something against him, but he usually was too focused on his Embryo search that he didn't catch it.

"Remember, those with the Tsukiyomi name are destined to work for me until they die," he went on with his same old speech, "You should keep that in mind and stop acting like a stray cat." There he goes again with the stray cat reference. It's starting to get on my nerves.

"What is it that you want?" I asked in an icy voice.

"I want you to continue looking for the Embryo as you have been told to do. If you find some x eggs, get rid of them. They're nothing but useless trash. Is that clear?" he asked me. I was silent for a bit. "Are you listening to me?" I wish I was able to just block out his voice, hurl the phone into the river and leave all this.

"I understand," I answered hollowly.

"Good now get it done," and with that he hung up and I stood listening to the sound of static silence on the other end. Stiffly I closed my phone and shoved it in my pocket, feeling that sick feeling I got when I was told to "get rid of the trash".

I began walking again, now burdened with another task I didn't want to do. It was going to be awhile before I could complete the task I was given since I would need Yoru to character change with. Seeing as he was most likely with the cat, I would have to find the cat first before I could find Yoru. As far as I was concerned, I was hoping that it would take all night to find the troublesome ball of fur.

While I walked down the road surrounded with my own thoughts, a tiny quick thought popped into my head. As soon as it had appeared it was gone, like smoke in the wind, but it was enough to leave an echoing in my mind.

I wish I could be like a cat and just disappear as I pleased.


End file.
